diff --git a/docs/config/index.md b/docs/config/index.md
index 4593b0310676..ff3747ff21b8 100644
--- a/docs/config/index.md
+++ b/docs/config/index.md
@@ -21,6 +21,18 @@ export default defineConfig({
 })
 ```
 
+You can retrieve Vitest's default options to expand them if needed:
+
+```ts
+import { defineConfig, configDefaults } from 'vitest'
+
+export default defineConfig({
+  test: {
+    exclude: [...configDefaults.exclude, 'packages/template/*'],
+  },
+})
+```
+
 ## Options
 
 ### include
diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/constants.ts b/packages/vitest/src/constants.ts
index ab74b956b6fc..d9c6c3d78cbe 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/constants.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/constants.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,64 @@
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'url'
 import { resolve } from 'pathe'
+import type { ResolvedC8Options, UserConfig } from './types'
 
 export const distDir = resolve(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url), '../../dist')
 
 export const defaultInclude = ['**/*.{test,spec}.{js,mjs,cjs,ts,mts,cts,jsx,tsx}']
 export const defaultExclude = ['**/node_modules/**', '**/dist/**', '**/cypress/**', '**/.{idea,git,cache,output,temp}/**']
 
+const defaultCoverageExcludes = [
+  'coverage/**',
+  'packages/*/test{,s}/**',
+  '**/*.d.ts',
+  'cypress/**',
+  'test{,s}/**',
+  'test{,-*}.{js,cjs,mjs,ts,tsx,jsx}',
+  '**/*{.,-}test.{js,cjs,mjs,ts,tsx,jsx}',
+  '**/__tests__/**',
+  '**/{karma,rollup,webpack,vite,vitest,jest,ava,babel,nyc}.config.{js,cjs,mjs,ts}',
+  '**/.{eslint,mocha}rc.{js,cjs}',
+]
+
+export const coverageConfigDefaults = Object.freeze({
+  enabled: false,
+  clean: true,
+  cleanOnRerun: false,
+  reportsDirectory: './coverage',
+  excludeNodeModules: true,
+  exclude: defaultCoverageExcludes,
+  reporter: ['text', 'html'],
+  allowExternal: false,
+  // default extensions used by c8, plus '.vue' and '.svelte'
+  // see https://github.com/istanbuljs/schema/blob/master/default-extension.js
+  extension: ['.js', '.cjs', '.mjs', '.ts', '.tsx', '.jsx', '.vue', 'svelte'],
+}) as ResolvedC8Options
+
+export const configDefaults: UserConfig = Object.freeze({
+  allowOnly: !process.env.CI,
+  globals: false,
+  environment: 'node',
+  threads: true,
+  clearMocks: false,
+  restoreMocks: false,
+  mockReset: false,
+  include: defaultInclude,
+  exclude: defaultExclude,
+  testTimeout: 5_000,
+  hookTimeout: 10_000,
+  isolate: true,
+  watchIgnore: [/\/node_modules\//, /\/dist\//],
+  update: false,
+  watch: !process.env.CI,
+  reporters: 'default',
+  silent: false,
+  api: false,
+  ui: false,
+  uiBase: '/__vitest__/',
+  open: true,
+  coverage: coverageConfigDefaults,
+})
+
 // if changed, update also jsdocs and docs
 export const defaultPort = 51204
 
diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/index.ts b/packages/vitest/src/index.ts
index 35db361a9f94..22e7c75640e9 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/index.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ export * from './integrations/vi'
 export * from './types'
 export * from './api/types'
 
+export { configDefaults } from './constants'
+
 declare module 'vite' {
   interface UserConfig {
     /**
diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/integrations/coverage.ts b/packages/vitest/src/integrations/coverage.ts
index 162b7df62174..912294b6977e 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/integrations/coverage.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/integrations/coverage.ts
@@ -7,33 +7,11 @@ import type { RawSourceMap } from 'vite-node'
 import type { Vitest } from '../node'
 import { toArray } from '../utils'
 import type { C8Options, ResolvedC8Options } from '../types'
-
-const defaultExcludes = [
-  'coverage/**',
-  'packages/*/test{,s}/**',
-  '**/*.d.ts',
-  'cypress/**',
-  'test{,s}/**',
-  'test{,-*}.{js,cjs,mjs,ts,tsx,jsx}',
-  '**/*{.,-}test.{js,cjs,mjs,ts,tsx,jsx}',
-  '**/__tests__/**',
-  '**/{karma,rollup,webpack,vite,vitest,jest,ava,babel,nyc}.config.{js,cjs,mjs,ts}',
-  '**/.{eslint,mocha}rc.{js,cjs}',
-]
+import { coverageConfigDefaults } from '../constants'
 
 export function resolveC8Options(options: C8Options, root: string): ResolvedC8Options {
   const resolved: ResolvedC8Options = {
-    enabled: false,
-    clean: true,
-    cleanOnRerun: false,
-    reportsDirectory: './coverage',
-    excludeNodeModules: true,
-    exclude: defaultExcludes,
-    reporter: ['text', 'html'],
-    allowExternal: false,
-    // default extensions used by c8, plus '.vue' and '.svelte'
-    // see https://github.com/istanbuljs/schema/blob/master/default-extension.js
-    extension: ['.js', '.cjs', '.mjs', '.ts', '.tsx', '.jsx', '.vue', 'svelte'],
+    ...coverageConfigDefaults,
     ...options as any,
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/node/cli.ts b/packages/vitest/src/node/cli.ts
index c2490619d179..f8522e0c41af 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/node/cli.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/node/cli.ts
@@ -16,11 +16,11 @@ cli
   .option('-w, --watch', 'watch mode')
   .option('-t, --testNamePattern <pattern>', 'run test names with the specified pattern')
   .option('--ui', 'enable UI')
-  .option('--open', 'open UI automatically', { default: true })
+  .option('--open', 'open UI automatically (default: !process.env.CI))')
   .option('--api [api]', 'serve API, available options: --api.port <port>, --api.host [host] and --api.strictPort')
-  .option('--threads', 'enabled threads', { default: true })
+  .option('--threads', 'enabled threads (default: true)')
   .option('--silent', 'silent console output from tests')
-  .option('--isolate', 'isolate environment for each test file', { default: true })
+  .option('--isolate', 'isolate environment for each test file (default: true)')
   .option('--reporter <name>', 'reporter')
   .option('--outputFile <filename>', 'write test results to a file when the --reporter=json option is also specified')
   .option('--coverage', 'use c8 for coverage')
@@ -28,9 +28,9 @@ cli
   .option('--globals', 'inject apis globally')
   .option('--global', 'deprecated, use --globals')
   .option('--dom', 'mock browser api with happy-dom')
-  .option('--environment <env>', 'runner environment', { default: 'node' })
+  .option('--environment <env>', 'runner environment (default: node)')
   .option('--passWithNoTests', 'pass when no tests found')
-  .option('--allowOnly', 'Allow tests and suites that are marked as only', { default: !process.env.CI })
+  .option('--allowOnly', 'Allow tests and suites that are marked as only (default: !process.env.CI)')
   .help()
 
 cli
@@ -62,8 +62,6 @@ async function runRelated(relatedFiles: string[] | string, argv: UserConfig) {
 }
 
 async function dev(cliFilters: string[], argv: UserConfig) {
-  if (argv.watch == null)
-    argv.watch = !process.env.CI && !argv.run
   await run(cliFilters, argv)
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/node/config.ts b/packages/vitest/src/node/config.ts
index 5b7025f88c40..5d119efb580a 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/node/config.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/node/config.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { resolve } from 'pathe'
 import type { ResolvedConfig as ResolvedViteConfig } from 'vite'
 
 import type { ApiConfig, ResolvedConfig, UserConfig } from '../types'
-import { defaultExclude, defaultInclude, defaultPort } from '../constants'
+import { configDefaults, defaultPort } from '../constants'
 import { resolveC8Options } from '../integrations/coverage'
 import { toArray } from '../utils'
 
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ export function resolveConfig(
   const globals = options?.global ?? options.globals
 
   const resolved = {
+    ...configDefaults,
     ...options,
     root: viteConfig.root,
     globals,
@@ -59,7 +60,7 @@ export function resolveConfig(
   if (viteConfig.base !== '/')
     resolved.base = viteConfig.base
 
-  resolved.coverage = resolveC8Options(resolved.coverage, resolved.root)
+  resolved.coverage = resolveC8Options(options.coverage || {}, resolved.root)
 
   resolved.deps = resolved.deps || {}
   // vitenode will try to import such file with native node,
@@ -73,29 +74,12 @@ export function resolveConfig(
     /vitest-virtual-\w+\/dist/,
   )
 
-  resolved.environment = resolved.environment || 'node'
-  resolved.threads = resolved.threads ?? true
-
-  resolved.clearMocks = resolved.clearMocks ?? false
-  resolved.restoreMocks = resolved.restoreMocks ?? false
-  resolved.mockReset = resolved.mockReset ?? false
-
-  resolved.include = resolved.include ?? defaultInclude
-  resolved.exclude = resolved.exclude ?? defaultExclude
-
-  resolved.testTimeout = resolved.testTimeout ?? 5_000
-  resolved.hookTimeout = resolved.hookTimeout ?? 10_000
-
-  resolved.isolate = resolved.isolate ?? true
-
   resolved.testNamePattern = resolved.testNamePattern
     ? resolved.testNamePattern instanceof RegExp
       ? resolved.testNamePattern
       : new RegExp(resolved.testNamePattern)
     : undefined
 
-  resolved.watchIgnore = resolved.watchIgnore ?? [/\/node_modules\//, /\/dist\//]
-
   const CI = !!process.env.CI
   const UPDATE_SNAPSHOT = resolved.update || process.env.UPDATE_SNAPSHOT
   resolved.snapshotOptions = {
diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/node/plugins/index.ts b/packages/vitest/src/node/plugins/index.ts
index fc99a17d583c..262cf4d52d8d 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/node/plugins/index.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/node/plugins/index.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import type { Plugin as VitePlugin } from 'vite'
+import { configDefaults } from '../../constants'
 import type { UserConfig } from '../../types'
 import { deepMerge, ensurePackageInstalled, notNullish } from '../../utils'
 import { resolveApiConfig } from '../config'
@@ -48,8 +49,14 @@ export async function VitestPlugin(options: UserConfig = {}, ctx = new Vitest())
       },
       async configResolved(viteConfig) {
         // viteConfig.test is final now, merge it for real
-        options = deepMerge(options, viteConfig.test as any || {})
+        options = deepMerge(
+          {},
+          configDefaults,
+          (viteConfig.test as any) || {},
+          options,
+        )
         options.api = resolveApiConfig(options)
+        options.watch = options.watch && !options.run
       },
       async configureServer(server) {
         if (haveStarted)
diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/types/config.ts b/packages/vitest/src/types/config.ts
index 2f3281565c57..a7c4274a32ae 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/types/config.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/types/config.ts
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ export interface InlineConfig {
   /**
    * Default timeout of a hook in milliseconds
    *
-   * @default 5000
+   * @default 10000
    */
   hookTimeout?: number